After the Supreme Court of India upheld on Friday ( May 8, 2026) the dismissal of a Jharkhand police constable.

He was found to have secured employment in the Bihar Police under a false identity. Now, criminal proceedings were initiated against him, it is learnt.

Earlier, a Bench comprising Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R. Mahadevan had overturned a Jharkhand High Court ruling that had invalidated the disciplinary authority’s decision to remove constable Ranjan Kumar from service.

The judgment was delivered while hearing an appeal filed by the Jharkhand government challenging a ruling of a Division Bench of the Jharkhand High Court.

According to the case details, Ranjan Kumar joined the Jharkhand Police as a constable in May 2005. In December 2007, he proceeded on a two-day leave and subsequently obtained employment in the Bihar Police under the assumed identity of Santosh Kumar.

He later stopped reporting for duty in Patna in January 2008. An inquiry initiated due to his prolonged absence reportedly revealed that Ranjan Kumar and Santosh Kumar were, in fact, the same individual.

The Supreme Court of India on Friday( May 8,2926) upheld the dismissal of a police constable. He was found to have secured employment in the Bihar Police under a false identity while serving in the Jharkhand Police, according to a Bar and Bench report.

A Bench comprising Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R. Mahadevan overturned a Jharkhand High Court ruling that had invalidated the disciplinary authority’s decision to remove constable Ranjan Kumar from service.

The judgement was delivered while hearing an appeal filed by the Jharkhand government challenging a ruling of a Division Bench of the Jharkhand High Court.

"The allegations concern a deliberate and premeditated fraud upon two State police forces, namely the States of Jharkhand and Bihar, by securing or attempting to secure public employment under two different names with inconsistent parentage particulars, supported by fabricated or manipulated documents," it stated.

When the case came before the apex court, it ordered the Bihar Police to investigate the allegations involving the use of false identities.

The investigation found that the same photograph had been used in both employment applications. Further forensic examination of fingerprints, biometric data, and photographs confirmed that “Ranjan Kumar” and “Santosh Kumar” were the same individual.

The Bench observed that genealogical records and electoral rolls indicated that differences in the father’s name and surname were part of a deliberately altered identity pattern, rather than evidence of two separate individuals. In view of these clear findings, it invoked Article 142 of the Constitution to uphold the dismissal of Ranjan Kumar from the Bihar Police service.

"The material available goes far beyond mere suspicion and reasonably establishes a conscious course of deceit adopted by Respondent No. 1 for obtaining employment benefits from two sovereign employers in a disciplined force", it stated.

The bench further mentioned, “The allegations, now reinforced by forensic findings, prima facie disclose the commission of cognizable offences such as cheating, impersonation, forgery, use of forged documents and furnishing false information to public authorities under the Indian Penal Code or the corresponding provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, as applicable.”

Now, the state government of Jharkhand, abiding by the order of the apex court, moved the files, initiating criminal proceedings against this constable turned fraud.